The six-year-old Plymouth girl who starred in an Oscar-winning short film has been lined up to appear in a full-length movie sequel.

Maisie Sly has been asked to reprise her role as Libby in the follow up to Academy Award-winning The Silent Child.

The 20-minute drama, about a caring social worker who teaches a deaf child to use sign language, walked away with the Best Live Action Short statuette during a glitzy night with the stars at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

Maisie Sly, from Plymouth, was the lead actress in film which won an Oscar

Rachel Shenton, a star of TV’s Hollyoaks soap, wrote The Silent Child – and said work has started on a sequel.

She said the new full-length movie will tell Libby’s story as she grows up.

And she confirmed Maisie, who is deaf, has been invited to play Libby in the new production.

The film-makers have also called on Prime Minister Theresa May to let deaf children study sign language in schools.

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Maisie’s parents Elizabeth and Gilson Sly, who are also deaf, along with Rachel and her fiancé Chris Overton, the film’s director, have signed a letter in The Sunday Times calling for schools to teach GCSE sign language.

In the letter they said 97 per cent of young people think British Sign Language should be offered in schools.

It said that the success of the Silent Child shows that “when society, family and government reach out to support deaf children, there is absolutely nothing they can’t achieve”.

Maisie made her acting debut in The Silent Child, playing a deaf girl born into a middle-class family, who are all able to hear.

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She starred alongside Rachel, who wrote the film based on her own experiences.

At the Oscars Rachel made her acceptance speech in British Sign Language – after having made a promise to Maisie.

Rachel said at the time: “I made a promise

to our six-year-old lead actress, that if we won, I’d sign this speech, but my hands are shaking.

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She added: “Our movie is about a deaf child being born into a world of silence. It’s not exaggerated or sensationalised for the movie.

“This is happening. Millions of children all over the world live in silence and face communication barriers, and particularly access to education.

“Deafness is a silent disability. You can’t see it and it’s not life threatening so I want to say the biggest of thank yous to the Academy for allowing us to put this in front of a mainstream audience.”

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Gilson and Elizabeth left their home city of Plymouth for Swindon five years ago to enable Maisie and her two siblings to go to a specialist school.

“Obviously it was a huge wrench to be leaving behind our family and friends,” Gilson said. “We do miss our family and

friends, but also the sea, Barbican and Hoe, Plymouth always has a place for us. But it was for the better of our family, so no regrets at all.”

The Silent Child – what the critics said

The Silent Child has garnered some great reviews.

On movie site IMDb it averaged a score of 7.5 out of 10.

One reviewer said the movie was “extremely well made, insightful and sad in many, many ways”.

Another said topics such as deafness are “perfect for short films” and added: “This particular short got just about everything right.”

Another reviewer said: “It's well made and insightful too.”

But Variety was more critical in its review and accused director Chris Overton of “bullying parents into doing what’s right for hearing-impaired kids”. It said: “A more nuanced approach might have felt more like a film, and less like a public-service announcement.”